Shikhar Dhawan is the most consistent opener for India, his contribution is immense and speechless, and also his powerful knocks in ICC events always helped India to remain at the top. Shikhar Dhawan used to carry Indian batting line up by playing flamboyant knocks in crunch matches and had a never to say die attitude.
On Saturday, Shikhar Dhawan announced his retirement from all formats of cricket, In 2022 he didn’t play any match for India, so to take such a decision was very hard but he ended his career on a happy note yet emotional too.
Sunil Gavaskar feels injuries made Shikhar Dhawan to exit cricket
Shikhar Dhawan announced his retirement on social media, and the whole cricket fraternity and Bollywood celebrities congratulated him on the second innings of his career, it’s pretty hard to say that Shikhar Dhawan might not be part of IPL next year. Shikhar Dhawan mostly was concerned with his injuries and he used to sit outside, recently in IPL 2024 Shikhar was benched from half of the tournament, and as he turned 30 his injury concerns were raised so his place wasn’t confirmed in the team, and his full-time place in the Indian team was also lost despite he played domestic cricket to secure his place in the team, but youngsters have replaced him. On this topic, even India’s legendary player Sunil Gavaskar also thinks Shikhar Dhawan’s injuries made him quit cricket. Sunil Gavaskar said:
“In later years, injuries were part of Shikhar’s career, which seldom allowed him to fully display his skill and probably helped him decide to quit the game while he was still enjoying being part of the circuit. But as befalls opening batters, a lean series or tournament can mean the selectors wielding the axe.”
“Taking that call is the hardest thing to do. But when the body tells the mind, ‘Enough, enough’, then that’s the right time to go. Shikhar Dhawan’s retirement from all forms of the game is going to leave the sport poorer than before. The ever-smiling, ever-positive Shikhar, also fondly called ‘Gabbar’, was a player of enormous talent,” said Gavaskar.
But whenever Shikhar Dhawan plays flawlessly then he is unstoppable. His technique was quite aggressive but his batting power was balanced, he played some crucial knocks too, when India was in a tough situation. Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan were the most aggressive pair in the early days and their camaraderie will always be remembered for a long time.
Also Read: ICC T20 World Cup 2024: Sunil Gavaskar Defends Ravindra Jadeja, Says Form Should Not Be Questioned